Klondike Goldfields

Hunker Road
Km 26 - Hunker Summit

From King Solomon Dome flow six of the richest creeks in the Klondike. The first discovery of gold in the Klondike region was made in 1894 on Quartz Creek, a tributary of the Indian River. It was the discovery two years later on Bonanza Creek in the Klondike River drainage proper however, that changed the area forever.

In the early days, all of the roads in the goldfields had roadhouses about every tenth claim (one per mile). Communities often developed at the site of the roadhouses, although they tended to see rapid growth and slow decline. Since roads and transportation systems were poor or nonexistent, businesses and entrepreneurs moved to the creeks to supply the miners.

Every significant creek had a major community, consisting of at least a roadhouse, a general store, police station, post office, church and sometimes a school. The creek communities came to be almost entirely independent from Dawson.

“From the Dome the view is unimpeded, and the whole gold-bearing area lies open before us. Bonanza and Eldorado head from its western slopes; Quartz and Sulphur from its southern; Dominion Creek from its eastern; Gold Bottom Creek, which is the main branch of Hunker Creek, from its northern.”
- A.N.C. Treadgold, June 8, 1898

Due to the fact that the richest creeks flowed from this high point of land, King Solomon Dome was thought to be the motherlode – the source of all the Klondike gold. Miners have searched its slopes since the turn of the century, even working hard-rock claims, but the motherlode – if it exists – has never been found.

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